Rockefeller stands by race remark

Sen. Jay Rockefeller may no longer fear the political consequences of charging the GOP with opposing President Barack Obama’s agenda because he’s the “wrong color.”

But he might be alone in that.

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On Thursday, no Democrats publicly rushed to back Rockefeller’s assertion that Obama has met legislative resistance because of his race, a remark that sparked an emotional debate Wednesday with Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) over whether opposing the president and his health care law amounted to being “racist.”

Staring down his retirement after 30 years in the Senate and often using a wheelchair because of a bad knee, Rockefeller chose his words carefully Thursday, speaking to a pair of reporters. He didn’t use the word “race” or “color” when asked to clarify his remarks — but he refused to back away from his core assertion.

“People oppose things for a variety of reasons. That’s all you’re going to get from me,” Rockefeller said of his “wrong color” comment. “It’s a part of life. And it is a part of American life, and world life, and it’s a part — just a part — of why they oppose absolutely everything that this president does. It’s basically for political reasons, they do that. But at some point, you can’t exclude other factors … as they say, everything is on the table.”

Rockefeller said he had never discussed the subject with the president.

The assertion is hard to imagine coming from a senator who represents a state — West Virginia — where the president is more unpopular than in almost any other — but it was no mistake. Rockefeller said the same at the beginning of May, arguing during a transportation hearing that “for some, it’s just we don’t want anything good to happen under this president, because he’s the wrong color.”

While it may seem that Rockefeller is liberated by his impending retirement, the Commerce Committee chairman has always spoken bluntly: He once lambasted Texas Gov. Rick Perry as an “idiot” during an interview, frustrated over Perry’s treatment of longtime Rockefeller collaborator, former Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), during the 2010 governor’s race.

But it’s not clear that Rockefeller has provoked the discussion about race among his colleagues that he seems to be itching to have.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), whose daily diatribes against Republican obstruction have become legendary in the Capitol, declined to endorse Rockefeller’s position in an interview.

“Between the two of them. I’m staying out of it,” Reid said of Rockefeller and Johnson’s spat. “I mean, it’s something I should stay out of and I’m going to.”

Rockefeller might have irrevocably severed his relationship with Johnson, an even-tempered Wisconsin conservative whose opposition to Obamacare has been a key plank of his Senate service. Rockefeller said he had made no attempt to reconcile with Johnson and had no plans to.

A Johnson spokeswoman did not answer several requests for comment.

Rockefeller’s words didn’t just rile Johnson, who on Wednesday called Rockefeller’s words “very offensive.” Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), the only black GOP member of Congress, serves on Rockefeller’s Commerce Committee and attended Wednesday’s hearing on health care spending. The chairman’s racial remark came after Scott left the committee room.

“He said it seconds after I walked out of the hearing,” said Scott, who has opposed almost everything the president has put forward. “I was finished speaking, so I got up and walked out, and as soon as I left is when the comment came out.”

Scott said Rockefeller appeared to be appealing to the “lowest common denominator” in his remarks, which the GOP senator called “inconsistent with the truth.”

“The president in my presence has said himself that Obamacare is a name that he likes. So to think that somehow there is a racial component to the name of Obamacare, is just ridiculous. And to think that we don’t like the health care law because of race is ridiculous,” Scott said. “Obviously, I have no ill will toward the president because of his race.”

Scott wasn’t sure whether offering his opinion to Rockefeller would make much difference and seemed to harbor no anger toward Rockefeller, regardless of how strongly he disagreed with him.

“You know I just think it’s unfortunate that we find a way to try to divide and conquer,” Scott said. But, he added, “I can’t judge another man’s heart.”